Genesis 29 Devotional

Seen When Unloved

“When the LORD saw that Leah was unloved, He opened her womb; but Rachel was barren.”Genesis 29:31 (BSB)

Jacob the deceiver meets his match. He works seven years for Rachel, and on the wedding night Laban gives him Leah instead. In the morning Jacob asks the question his own father could have asked him: why have you deceived me (29:25). He works seven more years for Rachel, the wife he loves.

The chapter's quiet center, though, is Leah. Jacob loves Rachel more, and Leah knows it. Her first sons' names carry her hope that her husband will finally love her (29:32-34). But the LORD sees that she is unloved and gives her children (29:31). With her fourth son, her words change. This time, she says, she will praise the LORD, and she names him Judah (29:35). Through Judah would come King David, and in time Jesus (Matthew 1:2-3). God chose to carry his promise through the overlooked wife. When human love fails you, the LORD's eyes are still on you.

To think about: Whose love are you waiting for in order to feel worthwhile, and what would it mean to start with the LORD's?